Please note: The Metro website has a brand new look, specifically designed to work better with smartphones and tablets. As with any site redesign there have been teething troubles, so please bear with us while we fix the initial problems and gradually add new features.

This should have a game tie-in. Portals in the Pacific Ocean? GLaDOS you’ve gone too far this time. All those monsters wanted was some cake!REBROCK (gamertag)/Rebrock (PSN ID)

Not strictly game related but this could be the best blockbuster ever made. The icing on the cake? Glados is voicing the giant robots. Keep an eye on this one.Rangersingh (PSN ID)

I’ve just seen the trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming film, Pacific Rim, and notice two things: i) the robots put Michael Bay’s Transformers to shame, and ii) it seems to feature GLaDOS. If that’s the case, I can’t see things working out too well for humanity.FoximusPrime81 (gamertag)

GC: That is GLaDOS’s actual voice actress too, apparently del Toro is a big Portal fan. Although it seems strangely out of context in the film. We’re also a bit disappointed by the rather bland robot designs and terrible dialogue, but at least both are still miles better than Transformers…

Giant exception
Far Cry 3 really is an excellent game, particularly the stealth elements which I find much more enjoyable than in stealth specific titles, it’s the however you want, whenever you want approach that does it. Definite game of the year for me.

Like others I also never even considered hunting animals in games before, but it seems that all that was needed was the promise of a bigger rucksack or an extra weapon slot to turn me into Ted Nugent with a pad. I draw the line at those giant tortoises though. There is absolutely no way I would kill one of them no matter what the reward, but I did try jumping on its back to see if it would take me for a ride. It doesn’t, ungrateful wrinkly old sod, and after essentially saving it’s life.

To add to Scoots letter, the Community Channel is also available on a Freesat box in the non-Freesat mode on Channel 5270.magicsquirrel

Too bad
It’s a shame Silicon Knights is a shadow of its former self. Although I was never keen on Eternal Darkness, I really enjoyed Too Human despite negative comments and so-so reviews, of which many people’s chagrin centred around the control system.

But I never had a problem with it, and found movement and combat to be fast and fluid. Moreover, the graphics at the time looked quite striking. I, for one, would’ve liked to have played the sequels.Jon Edwards

No shooting
I’d like to add my voice to the growing affection for Sega & All-Stars Racing Transformed. What a brilliant rendition of classic characters thrown in the mix with great art work gone into the levels acknowledging the rich history belonging to Sega. Best moment so far has to be the After Burner level and the moment you’re swooped up in the air with that music playing – had memories flooding back in droves.

After playing countless third and first person shooters with more enemy deaths racked up than Arnie, Bruce Willis and Sly Stallone put together it’s been a complete breath of fresh air to play this alongside Catherine – both of which have been the highlights for 2012.

I also believe that it’s one of the few PlayStation 3 multiplatform games that hasn’t suffered from being a tad dodgy port of the Xbox 360 version and kudos to those that have warned against some of the issues (albeit minor) surrounding Far Cry 3 on PlayStation 3. I had really hoped that by now some developers could’ve gotten their act together for the PlayStation 3 version where the Xbox 360 is the lead console format.

Strange how Rayman Origins, Hitman, and Dishonored can all turn out very well for the PlaySation 3 yet others can’t. Which is both odd as it is suspicious, especially if the Xbox 360 wasn’t chosen as the lead format for those trio of games. I know that you’re time is limited but with the likes of BioShock Infinite, Metal Gear Rising and DmC all looming in the New Year will you be possibly reviewing both versions so as to highlight any deficiencies?Sam

GC: We don’t normally review both versions unless we become aware of a major discrepancy between the two. As you say though, even when the PlayStation 3 version is inferior it’s still not usually a significant problem.

Mostly locked
As a Japanese Xbox 360 owner (I lived in Japan for two years) I can usually buy U.S. or PAL games if I want them in English (contrary to popular belief most are multi-region). However some are region locked, so I have to buy Asian English versions from Hong Kong or Singapore. They are produced in small quantities because the market for NTSC-J games in English is small. As far as I know they are completely legit, and run perfectly well on my Xbox and Xbox Live, etc.

A good resource for checking on Xbox game regions is this website. I’m not sure what the situation is with an Asian version 3DS however. It sounds a bit suss that it works with U.S. games as the 3DS is completely region-locked, perhaps they have imported U.S. ones to cater for the English speaking market. Hope that helps!snackycakes1982 (gamertag)

GC: That’s why we were suspicious of it too – it goes completely against Nintendo’s policy for the 3DS and for no clear financial reason. A reader with one has been in contact though and we’re trying to work out whether it’s an official product or not.

First mover disadvantage
‘There’s no evidence that the date of a console’s release has any effect on its success.’ Really? The original Xbox always felt like it lagged hopelessly behind the PlayStation 2 in terms of platform specific titles and I always felt that being 10 million units up always gave Sony the edge in which developers they could slap in golden handcuffs, Rockstar for example only got involved very late on in the machine’s life cycle and I’m lead to believe they had to use some very expensive lawyers in order to wriggle free which they only did once the Xbox had caught up a little in sales numbers and was looking like a profitable machine to develop products for.

I’m struggling to think of any specific titles but I remember playing some awful ports of PlayStation 2 games on my Xbox, which is surely a sign that developers were favouring the PlayStation 2 because of the possibility of larger sales rather than developing games expressly for the more powerful machine.

With regards to the Wii – and really all the current line-up of Nintendo machines – versus Xbox 360 sales Microsoft is only selling units to boys (OK and the occasional girl) who play games, the Wii is being bought by a huge cross section of society, even my mum has one (despite spending the last 25 years telling me what a waste of time and money computer games are) and she convinced my auntie to get one and they sit around comparing their Wii Fit results which just blows my mind.

The Wii is like a friendly approachable pussy cat to non-gamers but ‘proper’ gaming machines are like giant rabid dogs with two heads and three mouths, I couldn’t even train my Wii au fait mum to watch a DVD on my Xbox 360 last Christmas, interacting with ‘that thing’ actually made her genuinely nervous. So for me Xbox vs Wii is apples vs oranges. Or to put it another way comparing PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 to the Wii is to compare consoles with DVD players.

Also you give me too much credit, sirs ‘as you imply, Microsoft’s superior development tools and developer relationships were certainly key (to the 360’s success)’. I really wasn’t implying that at all I was just going by the numbers, although by all accounts the Xbox 360 is an easier machine to develop for with its PC-esque architecture. But I just sees numbers. Numbers I tells ya! Numberrrsss!Boilingover (gamertag)

GC: Many of the Xbox ports of PlayStation 2 titles were superior to the originals, unlike most GameCube ports. And the Xbox was released only one year after the PlayStation 2. The SNES was released two years after the Mega Drive and still managed to outsell it. In fact the console released first has never come out on top in any generation, even if you discount the Wii for the dubious reasons you suggest (the Wii doesn’t count because ordinary people like it?).

Bigger digs
Loving the new layout GC, much easier to read on my iPhone now and loads much quicker too. Just a quick query to you and my fellow readers. I’ve seen a lot of discussion about upgrading the hard drive being easy for the PlayStation 3 and as a 60GB owner I’m sick of deleting stuff to make way for new downloads/patches and have long thought about upgrading to a larger hard drive.

Whilst I don’t think I’ll have a problem swapping it for a new one there’s always been one thing that has stopped me. So my question is this; how do you go about swapping your data over onto the new hard drive? I assume it must be relatively straightforward as lots of people have done it but thought I’d inquire here as there’s always someone willing to offer advice.

Hopefully there won’t be too much technicality to it as I’m sick of not having enough space. It’s a ‘fat’ PlayStation 3 if that makes a difference at all.AckworthOwl (PSN ID) Add me!
PS Recently bought Sleeping Dogs and find it hard to drive on the ‘British’ side of the road. I do it every single day but years of American roads in games have ingrained into me the need to drive on the right hand side. Not since I first started driving on the right in the first Grand Theft auto have I had such problems adjusting to the ‘correct’ side of the road in game!

GC: We haven’t done it ourselves but we’re sure a reader can help. We assume it’s a similar process to the Xbox 360 though, which requires no real technical knowledge.

Elite difficulty
RE: Andrew Middlemass. Go back to the late 70s/early 80s, first in the arcades and later on the 8-bit home computers, whether or not you got to see a game’s ending had absolutely nothing to do with how much money you pumped into the machine or if you’d spent all your pocket money on the computer game. It was only your own skill that would determine how much of the game you got to see.

This has been the case more or less up to the last gen of consoles, I’ve been gaming for a long time and I don’t believe buying a game automatically entitles the purchaser to see everything without putting in the required effort. I personally never finished Dark Souls, I got to Anor Londo but instead of cracking on to the infamous Sid Little and Eddie Large bosses I went exploring in the Hollow where I quickly got myself cursed and gave up altogether. Yes, I would have liked to see more of the game but not at the inclusion of an easy mode.

No one is saying Dark Souls’ high difficulty is its only redeeming feature, but it does play a significant role in building the sense of dread and heart pounding fear, as well as the emotional rush when it all falls into place only to bring you crashing down again when you get overconfident. I argue that having an easy mode would definitely detract something from the game’s mystique.

If its elitist to want one of the few games this gen that dared to be different, to stay true to its creator’s vision and not be ruined by the publisher looking to pander to the mass market then fair enough. Call me a snob, but I’m sure I‘m not alone in thinking along these lines.

I also never said Dark Souls should only be for real gamers, I’ve already admitted it was too much for me but I am saying I don’t want to see the experience ruined to suit the weekend casuals. Is Andrew Middlemass trying to suggest that they haven’t been catered to enough already this gen?mitchell

The slippery slope
RE: Andrew Middlemas. I have to disagree with you totally. Why is wanting Dark Souls to remain a challenge elitist or snobbish? There is plenty to admire about Dark Souls but its challenge is a huge factor in setting it apart from other games and the constant fear of death always keeps you on edge. Allowing players to simply change the difficulty would go a long way to unbalancing and spoiling the game.

You only have to look at what’s happened to the Resident Evil series for an example of the slippery slope that awaits when you start trying to appeal to everyone. There are plenty of titles available for gamers of all levels, leave Dark Souls alone.drlowdon
PS: I know I also posted an almost identical comment in the Underbox but Dark Souls is my favourite game of this generation and this is a subject I feel quite strongly about.

Inbox also-rans
Not strictly games related but Radio 2 is broadcasting a John Williams celebration concert on Friday night at 8pm. Presumably George Lucas hasn’t had it changed to synth music so it sounds ‘as he always intended’.ZOMBIE_JAY
PS: Am I not looking properly or have the games release schedule and charts disappeared?

Before all these videos about Zelda timelines came out, I never even considered them connected apart from Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask (the similar art styles helped). The best theory I heard (think it was on these very pages) is that the games are the same story each time but told by different cultures.Ty Conlon

GC: We’ve never heard that one before actually, but we like it.

This week’s Hot Topic
The discussion point for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader rankmed (PSN ID) who challenges you to invent a multiplayer mode for your favourite game.

Regardless of whether the game in question already has some kind of multiplayer what kind of options would you like to see it include, including both competitive and co-operative action? If it’s a game designed to be single-player only what’s the most imaginative way you can think of to add a meaningful multiplayer mode?

What are some of your favourite non-standard multiplayer options in existing games and do you think enough effort is made to expand beyond standard deathmatch and other familiar options? Are there any games that you definitely wouldn’t want a multiplayer option for? And what’s your least favourite multiplayer mode in a game you otherwise like?